Creating Intention: Seeing Life Differently

Seventy-one days ago, I saw this post. I read it. I pressed the share button, wrote a little blurb and hit send.

For the rest of that day and every day since, I have intentionally worked toward seeing or cultivating good in the day. I committed to posting daily on my Facebook profile to build the habit around this intention and share what I am learning and experiencing.

Over 71 days, this is what I have noticed thus far.

• Greater freedom in my energy

• Ease—yes, life feels lighter

• Improved focus

• A deepening inquiry into presence, letting go, and the reality of impermanence

• A tangible ability to be more present, accept, and recognize the transitory nature of things

• Even my sleep patterns are improving

Life genuinely feels easier.

This practice isn’t about ignoring or denying difficulties. It’s not a path of toxic positivity or spiritual bypassing. Of course, there are still challenges. Life events can be unsettling, scary, or heartbreaking.

What it is about is building new perspectives and growing resilience!

We’re all familiar with the science:

•  Our survival instincts keep us on high alert, scanning for threats.

• Our brains' need patterns to function, so they form subconscious processes. But these processes tend to focus on negatives, constantly replaying fears about the future and regrets from the past.

• There’s a part of our subconscious that wants us to feel separate, and we are convinced that if we worry enough, we are uniquely different and can somehow control things.

These biological patterns easily anchor us in emotional and mental states of worry, fear, or negativity, making it all too easy to construct stories of suffering that we think are true.

So, no—this practice isn’t about glossing over reality. Believe me, I'm still challenged! Do I worry about my kids, their future, work, the world, politics, the environment, my friends’ and families' well-being? Yes, of course. Some days, I feel like I’m sugarcoating life, especially when writing a post.

But when I pause to really examine the stories I make up about all these events. I realize most of my worries are projections of the mental patterns I just described.

We have the ability to transform our experiences, not by changing our external circumstances but by how we relate to them. Real transformation comes from recognizing this.

 So this practice is about living the intention to notice the good, and the outcome is building resilience where I am connected with myself and others while holding space for what’s possible in the future.

By grounding and re-grounding myself with my intention to hold a good day perspective, life opens up in ways I may not have thought possible. I can't wait to see where this leads.

To sum this all up, this is what I have learned most of all...

 Nothing Changes—Until Something Changes.